Fran McCaffery
Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery says he has a good feeling about this year’s team even though the Hawkeyes will have a new look. Four starters are gone from last year’s team that finished 22-11 and lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“There is a reason why that group won 89 games”, said McCaffery. “It was essentially how they lived their lives and how they prepared and how they worked and how they trained and how they supported one another and overcame adversity. All of those things you are faced with in the course of a long season.”
The top returning player is senior guard Peter Jok, who averaged just over 16 points and shot 40 percent from three point range. Junior Dom Uhl along with sophomores Ahmad Wagner and Nicholas Baer will be counted on to play even more minutes this season.
Freshman Tyler Cook is expected to make an immediate impact. McCaffery calls the 6-9 native of St. Louis a potential star.
“I think I have a responsibility to be honest and I think he is an impact player on our team, in our league and on a national level”, added McCaffery. “I think he is that good.”
The Hawkeyes open with an exhibition game against Regis University on November 4.